QUESTION:  I'm not sure what Learning-to-Learn Activities are. Who are they for and how do we use them in the classroom?

ANSWER: Learning-to-Learn (LTL) activities are activities we use to help our learners 'learn HOW to learn' independently,  as well as with the teacher.

There are many LTL activites for learners of all ages. Two of the most important, we would say, are Using the Monolingual Dictionary and Error Detection and Correction.

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ANSWER:  We suggest you try “The Writing-Go-Round”, a group writing activity which works well in  Exam-Preparation classes to help ease the tension and make writing fun!

PREPARATION:  The teacher prints out strips, each with writing task instructions.  Sources for these tasks can be coursebooks or past exam papers.  Here are three examples of B1-level writing task instructions:

Strip A: "Write an essay about a celebration in a country you know. Remember to:

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We have an activity titled ‘What did you say?’ exchanges which accommodates a dictionary investigation to check that the homophones introduced in pairs, indeed, share the same pronunciation despite their different spellings.  

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Summer is an appropriate time to reflect on our teaching and to try out, at leisure, a number of new activities. As we promised in our article last June, we would suggest a number of additional poetry activities for all ages.

Poetry is indeed an excellent way to help our learners develop their writing skills. At the same time, as we have already discussed, it helps them develop their "feel" for words and for the language itself.

ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΗ: Είναι καλό η Πρώτη Ημέρα της Τάξης να έχει 'χρώμα' και ενδιαφέρον για να δώσει κίνητρα στους μαθητές μας. Μια άσκηση λοιπόν που μπορείτε να την χρησιμοποιήσετε σε Επίπεδα Α1+, καθώς και με παιδιά 9+ και σε όλες τις ξένες γλώσσες, και στα ελληνικά ως ξένη γλώσσα.

ΤΙΤΛΟΣ: "Το γράμμα του Αλφαβήτου που μου αρέσει"

ΕΠΙΠΕΔΟ: Τζούνιορ Β+ - Β κανονική

ΥΛΙΚΑ:  Οι μαθητές θα χρειαστούν ένα λευκό Α4 χαρτί. Θα τους το δώσετε

Answer: It is true, it's about this time of year where we need a "change". The activity below may be what you need. 

"FROM A to Z"Level: A2 - B1, 13 - 14+

Answer:  "An Image is Worth Hundreds of Words" is an imagination exercise designed to help learners express themselves through images as an initial step to brainstorming ideas and specific topic-related vocabulary items.

INSTRUCTIONS:

ANSWER:  There are two parts to this answer: (1) The first has to do with involving the learner ‘cognitively’ in the content of the recorded material, and  (2) the second part,  with preparing learners for what they are to listen for in order to complete the activity’s task.  Here is an example of a listening activity: